


Sleeptalker

by orphan_account



Category: Newsies (1992)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-09
Updated: 2013-09-09
Packaged: 2017-12-26 03:12:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/960911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bad weather forces David to stay the night with Jack.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleeptalker

It had been a while since Jack had shared a bunk with someone. Years, probably. He’d never particularly enjoyed it; he had enough trouble sleeping as it were without someone else breathing in his ear. But when it had started to storm, he’d flat-out refused to let David try to walk home in the rain.

“But my mother will worry,” David had protested.

"She knows you’re here and she can see that it’s raining. She’ll figure out the rest."

~~~

Normally when boys shared a bunk, they slept with their heads on opposite ends of the mattress. But it was cold enough outside to need a blanket, so they settled for sleeping curled on their sides, back-to-back and facing opposite directions.

David was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Jack smiled, remembering the way Les had fallen asleep right out on the street during the Trolley Strike.

Even while David was asleep, Jack could still practically hear that brain whirring away. His brow was somehow still knitted up in concentration even though his eyes were closed, and Jack wondered if maybe the reason he was always so grumpy in the mornings was because even while he was asleep, he never truly rested.

Jack usually loved piecing people apart; he loved finding out what made them tick, unearthing their talents and abilities, and figuring out how to charm (or in some cases, exploit) them.

But David, well, he’d known Dave for a little while now, and he was still something of an enigma. David kept himself well-guarded. And it frustrated Jack to no end sometimes. But it was also one of the things he loved best about him. He didn’t quite have him figured out yet, so David was constantly surprising him.

Like the day he’d called out the mighty Spot Conlon on a lie, calmly pointing out an inconsistency even Jack had managed to miss. Or the time he’d reset Dutchy’s broken nose. Or even just the revelation that he hated tomatoes. Jack could never predict what might come out of David’s mouth.

David just had so much information stored up in that brain of his; it was really no wonder he got lost in thought so often. And it would probably take years before Jack finally got a handle on the inner workings of David’s brain, but rather than becoming daunted by the idea, he instead looked forward to the prospect of spending that much time uncovering what it was that made David Jacobs tick.

Jack stifled a laugh when he heard David begin mumbling in his sleep. Of _course_ he’d still be talking while he was asleep. He couldn’t seem to keep his mouth shut any other time, so why would it be any different now? Jack rolled over to face him, grinning mischievously.

"God, I hate Santa Fe."

Jack scowled. What could anyone have against Santa Fe? What had it ever done to him? And what did David know about it anyway, aside from what Jack had—

"You left."

Oh.

Some time had passed since Jack had nearly left for Santa Fe, but they’d never really talked about it. When he’d been seeing Sarah, it had just been sort of assumed that he planned to stick around for her. And even when that had fallen apart, he still tried to make it obvious that he was staying put, at least for now. David never mentioned his attempt to leave after winning the strike, and Jack had found it easier just to pretend it had never happened.

"I thought you were never coming back.”

Jack felt something like cold fingers squeezing around his heart. Was this what having a family meant? Not being able to just act on his whims anymore because he could hurt someone?

"I’m right here, Davey. I ain’t goin’ nowhere," he whispered, and pressed his lips to David’s temple.

Quietly, Jack laid back down and rolled over again, attempting to make himself comfortable.

"Jack."

Jack turned to find David awake and squinting at him.

"Yeah?" he asked nervously

"If you hog all of the blanket, I’ll skin you and make you into one," David whispered.

"Nah, you wouldn’t. You’d miss me,"

"I would not," David scowled.

"Oh, yes you would. I know you would," Jack teased. "You talk in your sleep.


End file.
